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Top Universities in the US 2018

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Click here to view the latest version of this article, based on the 2019 results.

Unsurprisingly for the world’s most popular study destination, US universities consistently dominate the QS World University Rankings®, and the 2018 edition is no exception – with 31 top US universities featuring in the top 100 and a further 28 institutions in the global top 300. Read on to discover the top 10 universities in the US this year, plus the ranking positions of the remaining 147 universities.

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is ranked first, both in the world and in the US for the sixth year in a row. MIT is located in Cambridge, Massachusetts and is highly selective, with only 8% of undergraduate applicants receiving a place in 2016.

Continuing to rank second in both the QS World University Rankings and the US this year is Stanford University. Stanford is based in the heart of Silicon Valley in California and is renowned for its entrepreneurial spirit and business courses. Its alumni include many successful entrepreneurs such as the founders or co-founders of Netflix, YouTube, WhatsApp and Google.

Harvard University retains its position of third in the QS World University Rankings this year. The oldest university in the country, dating back to 1636, Harvard now has around 22,000 students at its large, residential campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Harvard is well respected in a broad range of fields, including law, business and medicine.

Up one place this year to rank fourth in the world, California Institute of Technology, commonly known as Caltech, concludes the uninterrupted quartet of US universities at the top of this year’s QS World University Rankings. Known as a leading tech school, Caltech is located in the city of Pasadena, California and is the smallest university in the US top 10, with only 2,240 students.

Also up one place in the QS World University Rankings® 2018, the University of Chicago is now ranked ninth in the world overall. Established in 1890, the university is known for its strong focus on research. For example, the university’s physics department is known for developing the world’s first man-made, self-sustaining nuclear reaction.

Ranked 13th in the world this year, Princeton University is another of the country’s oldest universities (founded in 1746) and is considered especially prestigious for the arts and humanities, a broad subject area for which its ranked seventh in the world in the QS World University Rankings by Subject 2017.

Cornell University is up two places this year to rank 14th in the world. Based in Ithaca, New York, Cornell was the first university in the US to award a veterinary medicine degree, and is currently ranked second for veterinary science in the QS World University Rankings by Subject 2017.

Ranked 16th in the world, Yale University is known for its highly selective law school. Yale was established in 1701 and awarded the first PhD in the US in 1861. Today, around 20% of its 12,300 students come from outside the US.

Johns Hopkins University retains its position of 17th in the world this year. Founded in 1876, it’s considered the US’ first research university, and is particularly highly regarded for its education and research in life sciences and medical subjects (achieving sixth place for this broad subject area in the QS World University Rankings by Subject 2017).

Overtaking the University of Pennsylvania as the 10th highest ranked US university this year is the New-York based Columbia University, up two places to rank 18th. Columbia was established in 1754 and has produced many notable alumni, including three US presidents: Barack Obama, Franklin D. Roosevelt and Theodore Roosevelt.

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The Assistant Editor of TopUniversities.com, Sabrina edits and publishes articles which guide students from around the world on a wide range of topics. She has a bachelor's degree in English Literature and Creative Writing from Aberystwyth University and grew up in Staffordshire, UK.

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7 Comments

Jeff M 8 months ago

This list is as good as most any that might come to an entirely different conclusion, I guess. Frankly, there are so many different ways that universities can be ranked and ranking are pretty worthless anymore.

Hi Saurabh, looking at the most recent Graduate Employabilty Ranking, Stanford is 1st overall, followed by MIT, and Stanford receives a stronger score than MIT for its graduate employment rate (Harvard does not feature, but is ranked 3rd in the world for the Employer Reputation indicator of the QS World University Rankings® 2018).